I posted this in another thread but, I think it deserves it's own. The recent confirmation of the cartoon's cancellation and the rumors spreading around that the toyline will be cancelled soon with retailers possibly no longer stocking Animated, it got me thinking. After some thought, it occurred to me that the death of the Animated cartoon and toyline most likely is not Hasbro's fault. In 2007, retailers wanted all things Movie-related after they saw how successful the first waves were.....I believe that retailers may be preparing to do the same with ROTF.

What if it's the retailers who are causing Hasbro to cancel the Animated cartoon and toyline? For example, if they have "X" amount of space in their stores for TFs merchandise what if the retailers are the ones who want it all devoted to ROTF? What if they told Hasbro that they're no longer going to support (i.e. buy.) the Animated line?

If that was the case, Hasbro had to make a decision. They can't continue a cartoon without a toyline and if retailers didn't want it anymore and instead wanted to devote all of their money and shelfspace to ROTF, this is what might have caused the premature death of TF: Animated.

If this is true and retailers no longer wanting Animated is what caused it's death then damn you Wal-mart and Target and any other massive retailer!!

We may be getting pissed at hasbro for no reason......I believe that it may be the large corporate retailers that have caused the death of this great cartoon and toyline. What do you think?

it is possible, but either way, they should still give us the chance to get the rest of the figures online though, just make it a smaller run, a lot of kids will be dissapointed from this as well as collectors

its possible because if you remember there was a shortage of transformers when the movie came out... I doubt retailers would want that again... there will probably be a surplus of toys when revenge of the fallen comes out...

If this is true, then I will have to go and kick some serious retailer's behinds. I mean, if any of them took the time to see how much Animated is loved, they would keep SOME toys, if not a lot, out during the ROTF toy release.

That idea makes sense, since Hasbro doesn't really sell the toys to us; they sell them to the retailers. And if ROTF is all retailers want to buy, Hasbro would be foolish not to give it to them.

Well, if the movie toys or even the movies themselves were anywhere near as good as Animated is, then I'd have no problem with that.

It's obvious that ROTF is going to do way more business than TF:A, but if it means that TF:A must end for ROTF, then Hasbro, retailers, whoever, are not going to be getting any of that business from me.

I wouldn't be surprised in the slightest if the retailers are the primary force behind Animated's "premature death". All they have to do is not put in any orders for any given toy, wave, or line. Probably the NY Toy Fair was a catalyst here, as it was the first big thing to show off the new movie line to the retailers, and most of them probably went "OK, we'll take 'em - no more orders for anything else though". Too bad Hasbro didn't (or couldn't) exercise some 'pull' and force stocking of Animated and/or Universe if they wanted to carry movie toys.

What if it's the retailers who are causing Hasbro to cancel the Animated cartoon and toyline? For example, if they have "X" amount of space in their stores for TFs merchandise what if the retailers are the ones who want it all devoted to ROTF? What if they told Hasbro that they're no longer going to support (i.e. buy.) the Animated line?

If that was the case, Hasbro had to make a decision. They can't continue a cartoon without a toyline and if retailers didn't want it anymore and instead wanted to devote all of their money and shelfspace to ROTF, this is what might have caused the premature death of TF: Animated.

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You have that backwards. Most retailers don't want to carry a line of toys that doesn't have some sort of media backing. You can have a show without toys. The show will still make Hasbro money, it's just a different revenue stream.

I'm sure it's both retailers and Hasbro's decision. Retailers want more ROTF product and Hasbro only has so many factories to make stuff so it's probably more profitable to switch gears to focus on movie toys. It's a similar reason to why classics went on hiatus when the first movie came out.

I want to respond to this with one, simple phrase: KILL UNIVERSE!!! It has no comic, no cartoon, nothing other than some new molds of old characters mixed in at a near half ratio with the same Cybertron repaints that we have been getting for years now.

Animated has the cartoon, comics: built-in marketing. Plus, we get the same thing: older figures reimagined! Now, we sacrifice Omega Supreme, and probably all of the Season 3 characters that would have made for wonderful toys. Why would you kill the mainline product of Transformers that specifically appeals to the target audience of toy buyers- ages 5-10? Five and ten year olds could care less for Universe toys- Animated sales clobber Universe sales. Just from the sales point of view, cancelling Animated makes no sense.

If it is due to Movie 2 toys, then it makes no sense again. Kids are less likely to see the Movie 2 in the theaters due to the rating. The cartoons are on every day on the CN (for now). If retailers are forcing Hasbro to relent and cancel Animated due to hype for Movie 2 product, WM, Target and the like have made a very serious mistake. This holds expecially true for WM, who I would imagine will be forced by low sales to lower prices eventually as I can see them stuck with overpriced Movie 2 product until Movie 3 comes out. It really says something when TRU has a price advantage (still $10 a deluxe, for now) vs. WM ($13 a pop for deluxes). Low prices indeed!

I really did not intend to go on this long, but I do believe that killing Animated is a horrible mistake regardless of who made the decision. In terms of marketing, you should always market to the audience with the most exposure: 5-10 year old boys watching cartoons before school while trying, in vain in many cases, to con a parent to take them to see a violent PG-13 movie producing some of the ugliest Transformer toys I have ever seen (IMHO). Kids are likely to remember the colorful Animated characters over the dark, sometimes indistinguishable Movie characters.

If it is due to Movie 2 toys, then it makes no sense again. Kids are less likely to see the Movie 2 in the theaters due to the rating. The cartoons are on every day on the CN (for now). If retailers are forcing Hasbro to relent and cancel Animated due to hype for Movie 2 product, WM, Target and the like have made a very serious mistake.

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I would say this makes perfect sense. It's not that animated has performed poorly, but moreso that the movie is expected to perform exceptionally. The movie line from TF1 flew off the shelves. There were the inevitable shelfwarmers, but for the most part, once the movie hit, figures were extremely hard to come by without a little diligence. We've heard for the past couple months that retailers are planning to devote massive space to the ROTF figures and I would consider that extremely wise (though the casulties are disappointing), considering the hype that will be built around this movie as the summer nears.

And I wouldn't assume kids won't see ROTF due to the rating. I saw TF1 once on the night of the release and again at a saturday matinee...matinee showing was PACKED with children with their parents.

I want to respond to this with one, simple phrase: KILL UNIVERSE!!! It has no comic, no cartoon, nothing other than some new molds of old characters mixed in at a near half ratio with the same Cybertron repaints that we have been getting for years now.

Animated has the cartoon, comics: built-in marketing. Plus, we get the same thing: older figures reimagined! Now, we sacrifice Omega Supreme, and probably all of the Season 3 characters that would have made for wonderful toys. Why would you kill the mainline product of Transformers that specifically appeals to the target audience of toy buyers- ages 5-10? Five and ten year olds could care less for Universe toys- Animated sales clobber Universe sales. Just from the sales point of view, cancelling Animated makes no sense.

If it is due to Movie 2 toys, then it makes no sense again. Kids are less likely to see the Movie 2 in the theaters due to the rating. The cartoons are on every day on the CN (for now). If retailers are forcing Hasbro to relent and cancel Animated due to hype for Movie 2 product, WM, Target and the like have made a very serious mistake. This holds expecially true for WM, who I would imagine will be forced by low sales to lower prices eventually as I can see them stuck with overpriced Movie 2 product until Movie 3 comes out. It really says something when TRU has a price advantage (still $10 a deluxe, for now) vs. WM ($13 a pop for deluxes). Low prices indeed!

I really did not intend to go on this long, but I do believe that killing Animated is a horrible mistake regardless of who made the decision. In terms of marketing, you should always market to the audience with the most exposure: 5-10 year old boys watching cartoons before school while trying, in vain in many cases, to con a parent to take them to see a violent PG-13 movie producing some of the ugliest Transformer toys I have ever seen (IMHO). Kids are likely to remember the colorful Animated characters over the dark, sometimes indistinguishable Movie characters.

Of course, that's just my point of view and I could be wrong!

Galvatro

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I completely understand you logic here. But whoever said what Hasbro and Retailers do is logical.

Hasbro Execs + Logic = oxymoron.
Emphasis on moron.
If Hasbro US knew anything about logic, they wouldn't have closed their display at the UK Toy Fair because of a highly dubious "leak" that no-one ever saw anyway. I see that, not to mention putting out the Animated cartoon MONTHS before the toys, as indications of Hasbro's level of competence in marketing their own products.

Hasbro Execs + Logic = oxymoron.
Emphasis on moron.
If Hasbro US knew anything about logic, they wouldn't have closed their display at the UK Toy Fair because of a highly dubious "leak" that no-one ever saw anyway. I see that, not to mention putting out the Animated cartoon MONTHS before the toys, as indications of Hasbro's level of competence in marketing their own products.

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I'm pretty sure that was Cartoon Network making the call on when the show had to be aired by. They forced their hand when Armada came around too, hence the shoddy animation for the first 1/2 of the series.

I think with Animated, the real heavyweight is Paramont and the marketing deal for the movie toys. Animated is still shipping and will be on the shelves till the movie toys hit. Stopping new Animated now, means it won't be there to compete with 09 Movie stuff.

Hasbro keeps talking about 'Brand Recognition' at Botcon, this is probably one facet of all this. One look, one line, one marketing push.

Trying to look at it objectively, I'm not sure it's incompetence as much as a big series of bummers all in a row. Here are a few facts that angry Animated fans ignore as they shake their fists wildly at Hasbro.

1. TFA toys are lined up and ready in late 2007, to capitalize on post-movie hype. CN has the show scheduled and ready to roll.

2. Movie toys sell like crazy, retailers want more, NOT toys from a new series. CN needs to continue moving forward with airing the show.

3. By the time TFA toys start trickling out, the show is almost done. Once the toys are in full distribution, the show is gone. Sales are likely impacted by this.

4. Now we could be getting back on track with TFA, but there's a new movie coming out, which takes priority. TFA gets the shaft again.

So the real "problem" is that TF1 toys sold well. And while a few fans might be willing to curse the TF1 toys for that, I'm certainly not. It's just a bummer that TFA took it in the keister as a result.

Trying to look at it objectively, I'm not sure it's incompetence as much as a big series of bummers all in a row. Here are a few facts that angry Animated fans ignore as they shake their fists wildly at Hasbro.

1. TFA toys are lined up and ready in late 2007, to capitalize on post-movie hype. CN has the show scheduled and ready to roll.

2. Movie toys sell like crazy, retailers want more, NOT toys from a new series. CN needs to continue moving forward with airing the show.

3. By the time TFA toys start trickling out, the show is almost done. Once the toys are in full distribution, the show is gone. Sales are likely impacted by this.

4. Now we could be getting back on track with TFA, but there's a new movie coming out, which takes priority. TFA gets the shaft again.

So the real "problem" is that TF1 toys sold well. And while a few fans might be willing to curse the TF1 toys for that, I'm certainly not. It's just a bummer that TFA took it in the keister as a result.

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I do accept that, but to me that raises the question of what exactly they were expecting of the movie line? I know that the movie and its accompanying toys were something of an unknown quantity at that time, but Hasbro were originally prepping not only Animated, but also Universe to replace it at the end of 2007. Surely they ought to have realised that if the movie line was going to be any sort of success at all, it would have needed more than a measly half-year to stretch its legs? I do realise the film was much bigger than anyone could have expected, but surely Hasbro could have realised earlier that it was going to last more than seven months, instead of screwing over their successor lines with a last-minute extension...

While Hasbro bears some of the blame, the retailers are the real idiots. When Animated was comign out retailers didn't WANT any new TF stuff, just more movie products becasue they sold. Same here. They don't want Animated because they know the movie will do well and those toys will sell.